August 2009

August 07, 2009

This series wouldn’t have
been complete without a look at virtual worlds and massive multiplayer online
games (MMOGs). No longer a figment of
futuristic science fiction, they have become reality today with over 40 3-d
environments available for nearly every lifestyle and age demographic
imaginable. According to KZERO, there
are roughly 579 million registered accounts within virtual world and MMOG
environments, with a large concentration of these users in the under 18 age demographic. These channels have come a long way since the
initial explosion of Second Life and according to my guest, Reuben Steiger of
Millions of Us, we can expect to see social networks like Twitter follow a
similar pattern of adoption and growth.

In yesterday’s podcast episode,
Reuben emphasized that purpose-driven, constructive and participatory
experiences flourish in virtual worlds.
Entertainment and charity orientations are still king, but
utility-driven efforts are also gaining currency. In the past two years, organizations large
and small have successfully conducted training, online education and recruiting
efforts and Reuben predicts we’ll see more of these efforts over the next few
years in the face of the rising costs of travel.

Reuben cautioned that consumers
in these real-time environments cannot be targeted in the same way as other
forms of traditional digital advertising.
Virtual worlds and social real-time platforms, such as Facebook and
Twitter, require brand marketers to approach their messaging strategy
differently with a heavy focus on purposeful engagement. When asked about upcoming trends, Reuben
predicted user identities within Facebook and Twitter would become more
avatarized and engaged in virtual merchandizing. He noted that branded virtual goods are consistently
in higher demand than non-branded ones – a good starting place for well-known
brands to introduce themselves to the 3-d culture.